Could someone recommend me an amp for a set of Acarian Alon IV's? I was thinking of venturing into world of tube amps, but I hear the Alon's are pretty power hungy. I'd like get an amp for $2000 or under so I don't know if getting a tube amp with enough power will be possible in that price range. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I currently have a Rega Mira 3 integrated, it's possible for me to use this as a preamp only, correct?

When I owned my IV's I had great success with Bryston and Levinson. The IV's definitely like quality power, and lots of it. As to SS versus tubes, some believe that the Alon speakers sounded "better" with appropriate tube gear. I can't confirm or refute that, but Carl M. of Nola (formerly of Alon) would be able to give you some tube gear advice for the IV's. Good Luck!

Thanks for the info guys I appreciate it. I have been doing some research and found a lot of people had issues with the first generation of the Hurricane as Mingles said... From the info I read it sounds like most of those problems were fixed in the gen II but I'm not sure. Do you guys think I should still steer clear of the Hurricane even if it is a gen II?

I'm looking for ease of use, as I said this will be my first foray into tubes so I don't want anything too complicated.

Early model Hurricanes seemed like an experiment rather than a finished product. Every one I've seen has a sagging top chassis plate because the sheet metal they used was too thin to support those enormous transformers. The new models were completed redesigned and are supposed to be more reliable. You definitely want to avoid the first gen.

I wouldn't dismiss the Cary SLI-80 or Jolida JD1000RC. Either one will drive your Alons quite nice and allow you to eliminate the Rega Mira 3.

The Alon 4's are different then the other Alon models in that they have a 15" woofer and are very power hungry. 100 watts/ch minimum, 200 watts/ch even better. I agree that tubes are the way to go if possible but it's going to be tough to find a tube amp with that kind of power in your price range. Maybe the CJ premier 12(140 watts/ch)or ARC VT 200(200watts/ch). You could also try one of the used CJ SS amps(2500?) in this power range as the CJ SS amps tend to be more tube like in their sound.

10-06-10: FranksThe Alon 4's are different then the other Alon models in that they have a 15" woofer and are very power hungry.

There's no debate that large woofers require more power, but I want to point out the Model IV has a 12" woofer -- not 15". The amount of power you need depends on how loud you play. If you tend to rock out, then 200 watts makes sense. If you play more conservatively, you can get by with 80 watts quite nicely. The other issue to take into consideration is the impedance. The Model IV is 8 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum.